Exploring Conversational Mediahttps://www.jeffesposito.com
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JeffTwitter Audience Insights – Late to the Party, but Valuable Additionhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/ifj-srjbpCI/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/06/02/auto-draft-15/#respondTue, 02 Jun 2015 14:14:22 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7420Twitter recently made a big splash in the social media world when they announced their new analytics – called audience insights. If the name sounds familiar, it should since it is something that Facebook has shared with marketers for years. While it would be easy to jump into the fray and replace Facebook for Simpsons in the old “Simpsons did it” meme, I won’t.

Sure Twitter is late to the party, but at the same time they have made some advancements that Facebook can’t get to due to their privacy policy. What I like about the new analytics is that it will allow users to track their personal performance (if they have goals associated – thought leadership, eyeballs, etc.) or to see who on their network is truly engaged with them. There is a mix of vanity in both of those two points, but it also plays to the vanity of social networking platforms.

From the business end, I think that these new metrics could really offer some real benefits from a paid and earned media perspective. Below are some areas that I feel could really be game changers for Twitter in regards to how businesses are looking at them as a platform.

Community Management: One of the underlying thoughts that are traditionally tied to Twitter (rightly or wrongly) is that it is a truly customer service channel. While there are definitely a lot of arguments for that, I think that looking at the main tab of the audience insights, you can see what Tweets that included you garnered the most engagements. In the image below, I can see that my Tweet, shared by Amy Brock generated a few actions. If I were a business looking at this dashboard, I would take this and see if I could leverage surprise and delight by sending her something nice as a thank you from my business. I would also look at the Top Follower area to see if the person was worth trying to engage with to help with my thought leadership within the space.

Eyeballs translating to actions: While we can opine all we want on social media being a conversational tool, it is also Big Business. The conversations are truly valuable, but when you talk to a CMO or marketing VP, numbers are probably more valuable. A common question asked is what are these tweets generating? How many people are seeing them? And how does this help my bottom line? In looking at the Tweet summary (image above) you will see some impression numbers. If you are driving traffic back to your site, you can tie value back by leveraging other tools like their conversion tracking pixel – Twitter Cards can also be used for this type of tracking. This mixing of products is something that most social media managers should be familiar with from Facebook. Tracking the impressions and clicks will really help answer that executive-level question better than saying “but we had 2,000 conversations and 1,000 new followers.”

Research: One of the things that made me chortle a bit when seeing Audience Insights was the ability to look at and compare demographics vs. that of Twitter’s universe. The thing that stood out was that this was something that I have used with FB for years – while it isn’t as robust, it does give a comparison point. Many social media managers will discredit a platform or network because you can’t get real data or “my customers aren’t there.” The later often comes in taking industry reports as gospel and not in primary data points. With Twitter showing the demographical data, social media professionals can now make educated decisions in regards to resources allocated to Twitter in regards to media spend and content marketing. If your audience is not matching that of your primary customer, do you need to pivot or abandon the network? Comparing demographics to that of Facebook, you will be able to see if you are talking to the right people. You can also see how these demographics change over time and if ads or content help to shift that.

At the end of the day, I hope that Twitter continues to invest in their reporting features to users. It is something that is needed for social departments to continue to grow. I personally look forward to the day where they help close the parity gap in the social realm, how about you?

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/06/02/auto-draft-15/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/06/02/auto-draft-15/See you later Vistaprint, best of luckhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/Yx8u4SdzS_4/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/05/29/auto-draft-14/#respondFri, 29 May 2015 14:53:57 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7413Eight years, one month and 13 days ago, I walked into Vistaprint to take on a role as an associate manager on the company’s PR team. Taking the job, I thought that it would be something that would help me transition out of the sports world and get into more of a stable PR role.

Little did I know that walking through the doors would lead me into a completely different career path – for the better.

Shortly into my tenure, my then VP Manya Chait tossed a Businessweek at me with an article entitled Beyond Blogs and asked me to figure out this new thing that wowed the crowds at SXSW called Twitter (believe it or not, I still have the issue and plan on framing it). Little did I know that little side project set off a great career that lead me to learning tremendously and gaining valuable insights and experiences that I don’t think I would have attained if I stayed in traditional public relations.

So as I close out my career at Vistaprint today, it only seems fitting for me to reflect on some of the moments that helped shape my career and are memories that I will take with me along the way.

Launching Twitter:We had a great plan that took six months to formulate – it really kicked ass – and we thought was what was Twitter could be. Little did we know that the community would be against it and ask us to change our approach. Despite the situation escalating quickly, the lesson was one that would be valuable as social is about the people, not a corporate messaging agenda. It also taught me to ask for forgiveness as opposed to permission.

Enter the Facebook revolving door:When my team took over Facebook from the SEO/Web 2.0 team (yeah that was a thing), we tried to formulate the same principles that we had with Twitter. Over the years, this community bloomed and millions of people connected with the company across the globe. The evolution of Facebook as a platform was a challenge at times, but something that also kept me and the teams involved on their toes and looking for ways to iterate, play the algorithm game and give the best value and education to the folks who came to the page for a connection.

Soup to Nuts Social Education: Over the past 7+ years, I have worked in social media and held a variety of roles that challenged me, but taught me that you need to look at social holistically and not in a silo. I am proud to say that I had a hand in leading and creating teams in content marketing, social media paid/organic, customer service and technology integrations.

Making it Rain:Over the years, coworkers have chided me for making hand gestures for making it rain or pulling out the WWE Championship belt – If you are unfamiliar, stop and watch here and here. To be honest, I could really care less. The teams I worked on kicked ass and when we won awards or made money I got excited and work should be fun. The award that I was most proud over the years was that our little team at Vistaprint (Jason Keith, Nick Gosselin and I) ranked above companies like Nike in Internet Retailer’s list of Social Media Impact.

Global Impact: As social media gained traction, I was lucky enough to help found and eventually lead a global team. This was something that had its up and downs but I am really proud of the work that the teams in Europe, North America, India and Australia were able to accomplish together.

A photo posted by Jeff Esposito (@jeff_espo) on May 29, 2015 at 8:02am PDT

There are many more memories like this and leaving is always bittersweet. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. I will forever be indebted to people like Manya, Jason, Nick, Bridget O’Brien, Cristina Sousa, Ginny Powell, Matty Trattles, Ina Ghita, Cindy Starr, Michael Buckley, Anika Watson, Lasky Garwood, Simone Johnson, Kai Schindler, Brooke Hollimon and Becky Bui. I could go on with the list, but don’t want to have to write 10K words.

So as my chapter at Vistaprint comes to a close, I thank the fans and community for their participation and wish the team taking over the best of luck in the future?

What’s next for me? I’ll be joining a great team at Kaspersky Lab, be sure to follow along with my adventures there.

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/05/29/auto-draft-14/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/05/29/auto-draft-14/Put the groans away, Facebook’s algorithm change is good for youhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/cbPehfTtftA/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/04/23/auto-draft-11/#respondThu, 23 Apr 2015 12:56:01 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7399Every time that Facebook announces a change in their algorithm, like they did earlier this week, you hear a collective groan from the echo-chamber of the talking heads in the social media space. “Facebook is killing organic reach,” “Facebook is Pay-to-Play,” or “Facebook hates business, except their money” – enough already Facebook is a business that has a great niche for both organic and paid traffic. As I have noted a few times on this blog, Facebook has built a perfect fly trap and businesses need to adapt to the ecosystem, much like they do with Google.

So while this may be contrarian to all the talking heads, I actually think this update is a good thing and something worth keeping an eye on. The removal of the friends commenting on/liking posts from brands was obtrusive, albeit a great way to poke humor at friends who comment on political/racy content (not that I have done that at all). I also think that this update lends itself to building an active community via content and updates that train people to want to come back and are trained/enticed to engage with content on pages.

I have had variations of this update (a/b tested) for about eight weeks in my newsfeed and often see brands who I have engaged with pop up within the same scroll of the page. What I have associated this to is that Facebook’s algorithm learns and pushes things that matter to you as a user – so frequency & engagement are key. I follow a lot of brands on Facebook, but there are four that stand out to me as they always appear in my newsfeed without paid media and really whittle down their content to relevancy to audience. By this, I mean that they write in a way that ties into the core audience as well as filling in their needs. The four include:

Naked Security from Sophos – I have 8 mutual friends liking this page. They constantly share ways to protect your online identity and data breaches. This page got me to like them with a paid post that was surrounding a credit card hack that had to do with Facebook authentication in a malware scheme. They typically show up once a day and are articles that I typically click through to read as their focus of late has been security of items kids play with and keeping your home networks safe. It is also a worthwhile follow given the security breaches that come out via social networking sites.

The Animal Rescue Site – While I still don’t remember liking this page, they show up in my feed at least 5X a day. I have 16 mutual friends liking the page, but where they win is sharing helpful stories for pet owners as well as adoption stories. People love puppies and kittens, but even without that, the content is often shareable and something that could benefit someone within my network that leads to sharing. I don’t have pets, but find some of the rescues fascinating.

Sesame Street – Only 5 friends of mine on FB also like Sesame Street. They typically pop up in my feed at least one time a day. What is interesting about their approach is that they share content that appeals to both parents and kids. So not only will they hit you while working, but also have content that will appeal to kids as well. Some recent parodies that fell into this bucket included Game of Thrones and the Hobbit.

Playboy – As a media publisher, they have some edges when they hit the algorithm. However, they also have a major hurdle in the fact that they really can’t post what they are well known for since you can’t show that on Facebook. Instead they go to the men’s lifestyle angle and do a good job of getting into the feeds with timely stories. While I don’t click through, I see them up to 5X a day. The lifestyle approach may also be tied to rebranding if they are trying to recapture some of the mindshare taken by sites like Maxim, GQ or even Buzzfeed.

When you look at the four pages, you have varied budgets and company sizes, however the one thing that I think stands out is they fill a need for folks that are following them and do a good job cultivating an engaged audience. While the audience differs, it still fits the end need of talking to people who like the brand and having a bunch of hits and misses. I just think it is more on finding that balance.

These brands also showcase that you can win on Facebook, you just have to put in the work and tie into the essence of your audience. Think you can do that? You do for Google…

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/04/23/auto-draft-11/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/04/23/auto-draft-11/How Sesame Street manages creativity and talenthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/uoMOywiH3bM/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/04/21/auto-draft-10/#respondTue, 21 Apr 2015 15:28:08 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7397This is a great video from the Wall Street Journal where they sit down with Jeffrey Dunn, CEO of Sesame Street. In the 3-minute video, he talks:

meeting strategy

managing creativity

fostering relationships

building a fun environment

I highly suggest this video for anyone who manages people.

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/04/21/auto-draft-10/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/04/21/auto-draft-10/Taco Bell nails it with dystopian breakfast commercialhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/1exb0hT_vWM/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/25/auto-draft-9/#respondWed, 25 Mar 2015 15:38:44 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7394Now I am not sure if it is the case of having McDonalds for breakfast today or watching the ESPN 30 for 30 Of Miracles and Men(based on Russian side of 1980 Olympic hockey) or that I loved the Hunger Games trilogy, but this commercial from Taco Bell really hit home for me.

For years, we’ve all ate the same breakfast sandwiches fro fast food joints, despite knowing how bad it is for you. Since Taco Bell is entering the space and doesn’t have buns, they needed to change it up a bit. While I love breakfast tacos, I prefer them in Texas. I will also probably never eat from Taco Bell in the AM or PM for that matter unless I am in a state that lacks sobriety.

With that said, I shouldn’t like this commercial, but I do. It is just the little guy go after the big guy. I bet you will watch the whole thing.

Will it work in the long-run? Who knows. Will it get buzz? Yes (this blog is proof of that). Will it win awards? Probably. The only thing that can be said is that time will tell, but if units didn’t move, well, the clown got the last laugh.

The hub’s Community features a catalog of Content Creators, Brands and Groups.

The organized hub of user-ranked content is a meritocracy and designed to be a front-line source for anyone who consumes digital content.

Creators increase or decrease a Spark’s stoke count — and hub-wide rank — when they stoke it, douse it or mark it as a firestarter.

Private beta invite

As a reader of Jeff’s blog, you can enter the private beta phase of NewsSpark and be an early industry creator via his referral link: http://newsspark.com/site/referral/user/jeffespo. Leave “jeffespo” in the referrer field at the signup page.

Why?

You content isn’t maximizing its digital potential.

Creators publish Sparks in the open and organized hub to complete their content-marketing cycles — by allowing their content to burn and work for them in ways it can’t at other digital channels: where content is an ad unit, fleeting, disorganized, unfindable, isolated, unoriginal or in a closed network.

Creators also use the hub as a platform to package, consolidate and digitally present their complete range of content.

Digital benefits

When compared to a pre-NewsSpark baseline, the hub is designed to potentially increase multiple near- and long-term content-marketing metrics: brand awareness, SEO and social search, audience, engagement, web traffic, coverage by bloggers and media outlets, inbound leads and sales.

The hub also delivers cost and staff savings on managing and sharing digital content.

Thank you, Jeff (aka @jeffespo).

Chris Ehrlich

Chris Ehrlich is the founder of NewsSpark, the social content hub. He has spent his career working with content across the journalism and PR industries. He’s a fan of music, asking questions, tennis, baseball and coaching.

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/25/auto-draft-8/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/25/auto-draft-8/Executive Social Media – Kat Cole an Executive to Emulatehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/wGTvOW8TENQ/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/06/auto-draft-7/#respondFri, 06 Mar 2015 09:52:38 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7386Growing up, I spent many a high school afternoon riding my bike or walking to the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. The goal wasn’t to shop for a fly outfit or fresh pair of kicks; I was there for one reason – to fill my belly with an awesome cinnamon bun from Cinnabon.

So excuse me if I was caught in somewhat of a nostalgic time warp yesterday when I saw an article detailing how Kat Cole, former president of Cinnabon, discussed how she leveraged Twitter.

What truly stood out was that she not only shared company news, but also engaged with her followers as it is another outlet to humanize the brand and make connections with consumers.

Let that simmer for a second.

Yes – Cole engages with real folks, she does not have an intern do it. She also sees it as part of her job to build a brand. Those two factors are often missing from top executives when they want to learn how to Tweet, Facebook or blog. Out of all of the trainings that I have done in my 8-ish year career in social media, executives are looking for the quick fix and for magic and instant notoriety or speaking gigs.

Perhaps the biggest miss on the executive level is that they do not get past the keyboard and realize that there are people behind the Twitter accounts that happen to love a product. Cole perhaps states it best with the following quote:

“I love to connect,” Cole says, “and while meeting tens of thousands of people in person in a couple of years would be difficult, I actually have done that through Twitter.”

I would suggest that social media leaders and executives bookmark this article and read through Cole’s strategy and take three things away.

Make time to build connections. Sure networking with other executives is great, but great ideas can come from anywhere, so nothing should be discounted.

Digital and social are here to stay. Customers will find you whether you like it or not. You have the choice – ignore or pass to your communications team (not discounting the communications team, but you should be able to clear Tweeting on your own) … or extend the brand relationship.

Stop being afraid. Facebook has a famous mantra that asks “what would you do if you were not afraid?” Apply that and don’t be afraid to reach out and touch someone.

To close, I am truly impressed with Kat Cole. Hats off to you and nothing but the best moving forward. Now if I could only find a Cinnabon that doesn’t come in a tube … sorry but it isn’t the same.

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/06/auto-draft-7/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/06/auto-draft-7/900 Seconds – the future of ecommerce and socialhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/YSOdCymbPWg/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/05/auto-draft-6/#respondThu, 05 Mar 2015 13:00:51 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7382This video is a powerful video that predicts the future valuations of Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon. It is fast and furious with some really interesting thoughts and insights into what the future could hold based on these behemoths of commerce.

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/05/auto-draft-6/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/05/auto-draft-6/Putting the 2015 #Boston snow into perspectivehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/q--j_Wo0H4c/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/04/auto-draft-5/#respondWed, 04 Mar 2015 12:56:13 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7378The Boston Red Sox are currently in Spring Training and Opening Day is April 13 – we still have ~3′ of snow on the ground. What are the chances that the ground is clear of snow when the local 9 take the field? I would bet that it is as likely as seeing a Sasquatch, but the field over on Lansdowne Street will be clear and ball will be played. With that said, the folks over at Matter Communications put this infographic together to put the sheer volume of snow we’ve received in Boston into perspective using the Sox.

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/04/auto-draft-5/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/04/auto-draft-5/Get over the Google+ breakup – it is logical and goodhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/XUxZN5HcWQk/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/02/auto-draft-4/#respondMon, 02 Mar 2015 16:42:06 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7375On Sunday, it was announced that two of the more popular features of Google+ – Photos and Streams – would be managed as separate entities. The aftermath of the post was an explosion of OMGs and finger wags at Google’s failed social network across the social interwebs. For a platform that many decried as dead since shortly after it’s launch, I find it quite curious about all of the current attention that the move is garnering. (Note: Hangouts will not be part of this shift). As I was reading through folks posts on Facebook and reading through some of the articles, I took the time to stop and toss my two cents out their on friend Amy Vernon‘s Facebook post on the topic (verbatim below):

I actually find this very interesting and relevant for them. While google did a hatchet job with Google+ in regards to publicizing it, it did have some really interesting things come out of it – Photos, Hangouts and in some ways the stream. I am actually more surprised with the fingerwagging from the social media space.

Google allows for failure and rapid innovation, they are also good at cutting their losses – Glass anyone? These splits are actually fascinating to me as an Android and intenet user. The tools are fucking awesome (I can say fuck here right?) and really breathed new life into Picassa.

With streams, I see it in two different lights. As a marketer, it is a gateway drug and helpful tie in to discovery. Knowing hashtags and allowing for some manipulation in the proper way, you can get found. The whole logged in search is enhanced by this. Also with the tie in to the Google search engine, if your branded searches don’t have competitors, you get the whole right side which drives a shit ton of traffic to what is now the streams of brands. As a user, I see this as a further extension of using Plus as an RSS feedreader – which is similar to what they had in two separate iterations.

At the end of the day, we can all decry Plus as a failure, but we should look beyond the + sign and more towards the word Plus. Google owns email and search (video too)… Plus now they offer photo storage, privacy filters and RSS without having to leave one URL.

But then again, there may also be legal reasons like the whole creating a “social profile” because you bought a phone or wanted an email or to comment on a cat video on YouTube.

So to conclude, I think that this move is smart for Google and beneficial for the end user. Sure there may be altruistic reasons for this from the Google, but I also think that you cannot call Google+ a failure. The platform was never going to be Facebook, but rather keep you on Google properties without having to leave one domain and seamlessly stay with a singular login. To that extent Google succeeded. They also had three viable products: Stream, Photos (as a dad, I love the way that the photos I take are instantly backed up privately) and Hangouts. Hangouts has the potential to be disruptive if used at an enterprise level and take shots at video conferencing software companies or freeware offerings like Skype (owned by Microsoft).

The futuristic ball is still cloudy as what this means overall, but hey that’s what makes it fun. Oh – and put your finger down.

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/02/auto-draft-4/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/03/02/auto-draft-4/Vistaprint enters branded campaign spacehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/hQ74caTVehI/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/02/04/auto-draft-3/#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 20:15:49 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7372As many of you know, I have worked at Vistaprint for nearly eight years. Over that course of time, the business has been primarily known for direct response ads across multiple platforms from print media to online display and search ads. So needless to say, it has been interesting to be here as the company got more invested in branding, including a full-on brand TV spot.

Below is the 60-second spot that hit airways earlier this week.

Get the drift of the story? Want to see more? Well then, check out the full-length video below.

I know a lot of folks who worked on the campaign and think that it came out pretty good. What say you Internets subscribers and visitors?

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/02/04/auto-draft-3/feed/4https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/02/04/auto-draft-3/Got goals for content marketing, SEO?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/8kS3k35MgjY/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/01/20/auto-draft-2/#commentsTue, 20 Jan 2015 20:43:01 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7369]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/01/20/auto-draft-2/feed/1https://www.jeffesposito.com/2015/01/20/auto-draft-2/Listening and acting on social signalshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/iiWSKcexJfI/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2014/07/08/listening-acting-on-social-signals/#respondTue, 08 Jul 2014 10:33:57 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7350A few weeks back, I took the stage at Internet Retailer‘s annual conference for the ecommerce industry to discuss social media and how marketers can do it right, but also how they can do it very wrong. Much of the value of social media lies within the data that is readily shared by its users. The problem with the industry though is that many advertisers ignore the data and miss simple opportunities to market more effectively or to hold open conversations with their customers.

In the presentation below, I offer some examples of companies doing a good job, companies who have failed in marketing to me and also what our social teams at Vistaprint look at.

]]>https://www.jeffesposito.com/2014/07/08/listening-acting-on-social-signals/feed/0https://www.jeffesposito.com/2014/07/08/listening-acting-on-social-signals/Miami University wins the Trolling gamehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/jeffesposito/wpCH/~3/Er_b3cRAQIs/
https://www.jeffesposito.com/2014/06/18/miami-university-wins-trolling-game/#commentsThu, 19 Jun 2014 01:12:01 +0000https://www.jeffesposito.com/?p=7346Game. Set. Match. Miami University of Ohio wins the award for best use of trolling in 2014. Well done.